To Every Woman a Happy Ending
by Merlin Missy
Summary: Post Starcrossed.  Lois doesn't want to be here for this.


To Every Woman a Happy Ending  
a Justice League story  
by Merlin Missy  
Copyright 2004  
PG-13

The characters belong to DC / Warner Brothers. Spoilers  
up through "Starcrossed."

* * *

Lois didn't actually want to come to this. She'd tried  
making any excuse she could, had even gone so far as to  
say she didn't have anything to wear.

A dress in her size, lilac and slim and strapless, had  
been delivered to her apartment that same evening. With  
shoes.

Perry had given her the assignment, after she'd said  
they'd asked. She could have said "No" still, could have  
asked one of the junior staffers to attend this afternoon  
with Jimmy in a goofy tux snapping photos. She could  
have. And if it had been Superman who'd asked her, she  
would have. She felt confident that she would have  
refused then. But Bruce had been the one to hand her the  
invitation. Not as his date, not as his friend, not even  
as a friend of the bride or groom. He wanted her there.  
"To see," he'd said.

The ceremony was lovely, and simple, and tasteful.  
Standard American secular wedding, complete with judge.  
Lois had her doubts that the marriage was actually legal.  
There was a law on the books forbidding legal recognition  
of marriages between humans and non-humans, because  
somehow that would make the millions of human-only  
marriages already in existence mean less, would damage  
them.

Lois's editorial on that particular piece of legislation  
had been scrapped before it could be published. Perry  
had told her, and rightly so, that she was too close to  
the subject. She'd responded, "You think?"

No one today was going to press a legal case. Not for  
that.

"Miss Lane, are you going to interview any of them?"  
Jimmy had his camera ready.

"Not right now." She tasted the champagne in her glass.  
"Go ahead and get some shots of the cake before they cut  
it." Jimmy got closer to the table and set up his  
tripod.

There was no point to interviewing anyone this afternoon.  
This was a Society Page assignment; as much as she might  
like to ask the guests some pointed questions, it wasn't  
going to happen. She was there to see, as Bruce had  
said. She would write about the decoration scheme  
(green, because no one saw _that_ coming) and the  
guest list (JL, Lanterns from other sectors, a few  
personal friends of the couple). She could have written  
most of the article before she'd even shown up.

Stewart wore his formal Lantern uniform, complete with  
the bright green trenchcoat. Most of the guests were in  
some kind of formal version of their uniforms, from  
Wonder Woman in her robe to Aquaman and his wife in their  
court garb. The bride was one of the few people in  
attendance who _wasn't_ in uniform.

Lois took another drink.

It was funny, if she thought about it through a very  
specific lens on her memory. Bruce and Superman had both  
asked her to help pick out the dress. After all, what  
little girl hadn't been planning weddings for herself and  
her dollies since she was old enough to know what a veil  
was? She could name two for a start. Wedding dresses  
weren't a part of Thanagarian culture, and Wonder Woman  
was no help. They wanted a woman's opinion. Lois gave  
them hers, and it wasn't polite. She'd told them to ask  
Batgirl and Supergirl.

She wasn't sure if Bruce had picked out the dress — he  
did have awfully good taste for a straight man — or if  
they'd gone with a wedding planner. It was nice,  
certainly: cream-colored and lacy, picked out with tiny  
pearls. Backless, of course. Lois was going to have to  
have to call the designer to get the proper details right.  
Everyone would want to know, when they read the article.

She found that she was making a fist. She relaxed it,  
with an effort.

She knew she ought to mingle. Even if she couldn't get a  
good interview today, she could make some contacts.  
Maybe she could arrange a decent Q&A with Aquaman.  
_That_ would be something to put her byline under.  
As tempting as they were, she'd probably stay away from  
the aliens.

People didn't want to read about aliens at the moment.

Twenty dead in Dakota during the invasion. Twelve in  
Gotham. Only six in Metropolis. Reports had drifted in  
from other parts of the world: London hadn't seen any  
casualties, but over three hundred died in Moscow from a  
series of bombs planted by human rebels. There were no  
numbers on the Thanagarian casualties. Hawk guards had  
been torn to pieces by mobs in some of the larger cities.  
Others had been shot in the streets. By the time they'd  
pulled out, they'd lost dozens for certain, probably more.

Which didn't matter now. They were never coming back.

Before the ceremony, she'd eavesdropped on the Green  
Lanterns. The Lantern assigned to Thanagar's sector  
wasn't present, but had reported back. Without the  
bypass in place, the Gordanians had completed their own  
attack. The planet was overrun. Over two hundred  
million dead in the first wave. Lois couldn't make  
herself feel bad about their losses. In a choice between  
Earth and Thanagar, she'd go with Earth every time.

It would make a nice headline tomorrow.

"Lois." She closed her eyes. "It's good to see you."

"Mm hm." She sipped at her drink again, hoping he'd go  
away. The champagne was really quite good. Bruce's tab,  
no doubt. He would have spared no expense on this  
little exercise in Public Relations. It amazed her that  
after everything, after the near-destruction of Wayne  
Manor in the invasion, even after so many expenses and  
activities coming directly or indirectly out of Bruce's  
wallet, that no one knew his secret.

How many times had she wanted to print _that_  
headline?

"It's all right if you don't want to talk to me."

"Don't."

"Don't what?"

"Act hurt. Act like I'm breaking your heart for not  
smiling and preening on your arm. You don't get that  
from me."

"I know." She wanted to shout at him. Superman was  
wearing his guilty little boy face, the one that said  
he'd done wrong and knew it and why wasn't she forgiving  
him already? She knew that expression.

"No, you don't. It's not all better now just because you  
say it is."

"Things take time, Lois. We can't change the world  
overnight."

_Can't you?_ she wanted to ask. But he was right.  
They couldn't go from a police state back to a democracy  
in a day. The fall of the Soviet Union wasn't that long  
ago. Above all else, it needed to be a peaceful  
transition. It had been.

That old chestnut about not appreciating things until  
they were gone? Lois held it near and dear. When she'd  
been a child, when she'd been in college, when she'd  
started out as a cub reporter, she fought for her First  
Amendment rights every day. And then those rights were  
gone, and the press had been controlled by people who'd  
told them point blank it was for their own good.

The day the invaders had left, she'd gone to the  
_Planet_, gone to her desk, clicked on the computer,  
and just started to write. Anything. Everything. For  
hours. Jimmy had come in a few hours later, and she'd  
hugged him like a brother, and he'd helped her typeset  
the first edition. A dozen people had shown up that  
first day, and they'd packed up the print run in their  
cars and delivered them to the newsstands themselves.  
The edition was only six pages long, almost entirely  
written by Lois. The sound of the first bundle hitting  
the sidewalk had been like birth.

Lois swore to herself she'd die before she let anyone  
take away those rights again.

And now it was a month later, and they were all putting  
the past behind them. She looked up into the face of her  
past. Then she handed him her empty glass and walked to  
the appetizer table.

Wonder Woman rejoined the guests, announcing that the  
bride and groom were almost done with pictures, and would  
be joining them shortly. Lois took that as a hint to  
take only a few snacks on her tiny plate rather than the  
pile she was suddenly craving. She settled on two mini-  
quiches and something promising on a toothpick.

She looked for Jimmy, found him taking a picture of the  
Martian standing and chatting with one of the Lanterns.  
Kilobyte, maybe? She didn't see Bruce anywhere, but  
then, as much as he might be a partygoer without the  
mask, he surely wasn't one wearing it. He'd been present  
at the actual ceremony, sitting on the bride's side.

There hadn't been many people on the bride's side. Lois  
and Jimmy had been seated there, but they'd sat near the  
back. A month wasn't enough time for anyone to forget  
what she'd done.

Lois didn't ask how they'd reacted, when they'd  
discovered that the "helpful" aliens were actually  
invaders, when they'd found out that one of their own had  
given their secrets and their planet up to aliens bent on  
Earth's destruction. Lois had been furious, and she'd  
only met the woman a handful of times. It must have been  
much worse for the people who saw her every day, and  
worst of all for the man she'd taken as her lover.

All they'd said, after, was that she'd chosen their side  
in the end. For that, they could forgive her the rest,  
even if they could not dare to trust her as one of them  
ever again.

As for Stewart, apparently there had been promises made.  
Whether she had intended to keep hers was a separate  
matter; he was a good man, and he kept his word to her.  
And so they were here today at a botanical garden funded  
in part by Wayne Enterprises, so that he could fulfill  
his promise, and so that everyone else in the world could  
see How Normal Everything Was Again. They'd invited a  
few members of the press, like Lois and Jimmy. To see.

As if any of this was normal, could possibly be normal.  
Lois lost her appetite, and set down the food untouched.

Nothing would ever be normal again, but it was better day  
by day. No more aliens running the world. From now on,  
the people of the Earth chose their own leaders. Maybe  
there would be religious dictators, maybe there would be  
peaceful anarchy, maybe a little of each. Their choice.  
Democracy in action. Lois had already voted in the  
Spring Primary. It had felt good.

The bride and groom came out, were joined by Wonder Woman  
and the Martian to form the receiving line. Lois didn't  
want to do this, but lined up anyway to shake hands and  
pretend like this was all _normal_.

She couldn't remember normal, not really. She remembered  
change. She remembered the first day what she took for a  
blue and red angel had saved her from a falling beam.  
She remembered the day he'd gathered friends around him  
and swore to protect the world from danger. She  
remembered the night he'd come to her, and told her that  
he'd met himself from another universe and that thoughts  
of the other him robbed him of sleep, and she'd held him.  
She remembered when they thought he was dead.

Normal was what happened between changes.

And then it was her turn in the line. She took  
Hawkgirl's hand and shook it. The words came without  
thought. "You look lovely."

"Say 'Thank you,'" said Stewart.

"Thank you." She looked younger than Lois had expected,  
but who knew with aliens. Maybe all Thanagarians had  
those same wide, green eyes under the helmets. Lois  
wondered if it was a cultural thing, to hide their faces  
away, another Thanagarian custom they'd never know.

Lois shook Stewart's hand. "Congratulations. I'm sure  
you'll both be very happy."

"I'm sure," he said. He looked hot, and uncomfortable.

"I'm sure," Hawkgirl said too, and he took her hand and  
squeezed it. She smiled. Lois made herself smile back.  
Screaming would do no good. Maybe more of Bruce's  
expensive champagne. That sounded like a fantastic idea.  
The couple turned to the next person in line, and Lois  
looked for a waiter.

Most changes didn't happen overnight, but some could  
happen in just a few minutes. She sipped her drink,  
wondered if things would have been different had they  
known about the baby growing in the bride's belly,  
before. She doubted it. And now, it was just a matter  
of making sure their child would be provided with a home  
and a family. Green Lantern would do that. He would  
always take care of her and the baby, and wasn't that the  
important part?

Her glass was empty again. Over the rim of it, she saw  
movement in the shadows. Bruce was watching. She  
couldn't see his eyes behind the cowl, but she felt that  
he was watching her. Why? To watch her reactions? He'd  
invited her. What had he wanted her to see that wouldn't  
be in the paper tomorrow morning?

To see How Normal Everything Wasn't?

Bruce nodded inside his shadow, and was gone.

It was time for the first dance between the bride and the  
groom, which under other circumstances would have been  
kind of funny. Lois was pretty sure Lantern wasn't the  
dancing kind, and Hawkgirl seemed the type to only enjoy  
something with a beat. Nevertheless they went to what  
passed for the dance floor, and he helpfully placed her  
arms where they should go, and the music started.

Lois really wanted more to drink. When she noticed  
Superman coming closer to her, she sidled toward another  
waiter, but it appeared the champagne was being taken  
away in anticipation for their meal. She stood still and  
waited, praying he wouldn't ask her to dance with him,  
that he wouldn't touch her. If he did, she _would_  
start screaming, and she wasn't sure she'd stop ever.

_It's better now_, she told herself. _Everything  
is getting better._ She had her beloved press back,  
could cover real stories again (even if the real story of  
this particular event could never be put into words).  
She could live her own life again. She could vote again.

Oh yes. Lately, the Justice Lords had been all about  
democracy. And they'd voted too.

The bride and groom turned slightly, and Jimmy took  
another picture. That would be the one for the front  
page, Lois was sure.

Hawkgirl's veil came loose as they moved. When the song  
ended, Lantern carefully brushed her hair back into place.  
She didn't stop him, didn't help, just kept smiling that  
same quiet smile.

Lois could barely see the two little burn marks.

The End


End file.
